


Of Old and New Beginnings

by salable_mystic



Category: American President (1995)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-18
Updated: 2009-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-04 13:13:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salable_mystic/pseuds/salable_mystic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two encounters between Robin McCall and Lewis Rothschild.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Old and New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tinpantithesis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinpantithesis/gifts).



> Dear Tinpantithesis,  
> I just wanted to say thank you for the inspiring and thoughtful prompt, and the very helpful "Dear Yuletide author" letter you gave me. Writing this fic was a joy, and I dearly hope that you enjoy reading it and that it is along the lines of what you had in mind. Happy Yuletide!!!

I – Old Beginnings

January 23rd, 1991

 

“So, who are you, then? You’re new here, aren’t you? Have you been introduced to the field office staff? Been assigned a specific area to look after today? A job? I know this place is not much to look at, and there’s still boxes everywhere, but we’ve only moved everything in here yesterday from the regular office in Wisconsin, now that the Governor has officially announced that he’s intending to run in the primaries, and there’s so much to do that no-one seems to have had time to unpack any but the essentials.”

Lewis looked around the cluttered, crowded room he had been sent to and could only think in wry bemusement that ‘a bit cluttered’ was a rather nice understatement for the chaos that currently seemed to have swallowed the room. It looked like the boxes had not so much been partially unpacked as they had exploded, seemingly at random, with paper strewn across every available surface on the desks and even on some of the chairs. Chairs not occupied by people, anyway, as there were quite a few people in here, some speaking on telephones, while some others in a corner were seemingly drafting a layout for a campaign flyer or poster of some sort on a whiteboard hanging on the wall. And then there were still others erecting shelving at the far wall, presumably to hold some of the contents of the boxes that were obstructing most of the walkways between the various desks.

The bemusement he felt must have been obvious to his companion, for the woman smirked at him and held out her hand, saying, “Oh, and, by the way – I am Robin McCall, in charge of communications – and this chaos here, it seems.” She was tall, lean, smartly dressed, and seemed to fairly exude an aura of competence. Lewis decided on sight that he liked her, and was pleased when she easily accepted his firm handshake.

“Lewis Rothschild, at your service.” He sketched a small bow, grinning.

“Oh, is that so?” She smiled back, seemingly amused by his antics, and gestured, her hand indicating the large room: “And what kind of service would that be? Would you prefer to unpack boxes or do you have an artistic streak and want to help with the design?”

Lewis smiled and shook his head ruefully: “Well, I don’t know about my drawing skills, I’d be more of a hindrance than a help there, I think – but actually A.J. – ah, Mr MacInerney, that is – wants me to help him and Governor Shepherd flesh out the domestic policy agenda, and to join your team as a domestic policy consultant. Could you tell me where to find him?”

 She raised her right hand in an apologetic gesture. “Sorry, I thought you were one of the volunteer helpers coming in to help with the unpacking effort today, we’re expecting quite a number of them. Follow me, I’ll take you to A.J.’s office. I think the Governor is in there with him right now, though, so you might have to wait a bit.”

A shrug was Lewis’ only reply as he followed her through the room and towards a second door opposite the one that he had entered through: “That’s fine. I’ve already checked into my hotel and have gotten myself organized here, so there’s nowhere I need to be.”

“You’re not from New Hampshire?”

 Lewis shook his head – not that she could see that, he realised, since she was walking about a half-step in front of him – and replied: “No. I’ve been working for Senator Greerey these last couple of years, so I’ve been splitting my time between Washington, DC and Ohio.”

“And he didn’t mind letting you go to join someone else’s staff?”

“Well, he wasn’t exactly happy to let me go, but …” Lewis shrugged “… I’ve known A.J. long enough to know that when he calls and offers me a job and a chance like this, it’s something I ought to think about seriously. And besides, what I’ve seen and heard of Governor Shepherd, I’ve liked. He seems to be a decent guy, and he backs the things I believe in, you know? So a chance like this – it’s not something I could face myself not doing, if that makes sense? I’ve always dreamed of getting a chance to help change America for the better, and I’ve worked for it for such a long time, in one place or another, so when an offer like this comes your way … you’ve got to grab it and hold on tight.”

She stopped in front of an open door that seemed to lead into another office – this one much less crowded and occupied by only two people, one of whom was Lewis’ friend A.J. MacInerney and the second one he recognized as being the Governor and Presidential Candidate he was going to be working for, for – well, for a couple of months, at least, and a couple of years, if everything went well – and turned to look at him, her expression amused but her eyes serious: “Well, you’ve come to the right place, then.”

She turned back towards the open door and rapped on the doorframe, calling “Governor Shepherd, A.J.? Lewis Rothschild is here to see you.”

“Ah, yes. Excellent. Send him in, Robin!”

 

 

 

 

II – New Beginnings

January 19th, 2001

 

Robin found Lewis packing the final boxes in his West Wing office in the White House. “So, Inauguration Day tomorrow, huh?” she said, leaning against the doorframe and watching him methodically go through the last books left in the oaken wall shelves that covered two of the four walls in this room and put them into different boxes, following sorting a system that escaped her, but that seemed to – at least judging by his decisive gestures – make sense to him.

He turned around to face her and shrugged ruefully “Yeah, I know. Strange, isn’t it? Time has gone by so fast, it seems like only last year that we moved all this stuff-” he gestured vaguely at the room with the book held in his left hand “in here.”

She nodded: “I know what you mean. And yet, so much has happened that it might as well have been twenty years, not just eight.”

A comfortable – if unusual, there had always been so much to talk about, so many issues to discuss, so many problems to solve – silence fell between them, that she broke after a couple of meditative minutes in which he continued with his sorting and packing: “So, any plans for the next couple of weeks?”

He laughed: “I don’t know! Catch up on nine years’ worth of missed sleep, relax, read all the books I did not have time to read, … . Be available in case the new guys need help figuring out the filing system – though they do seem to be settling in well. You?”

She shrugged. “Sounds good to me. I think I will need to get used to what it’s like to not be busy before I can really think about making plans. I’ve been approached by some of the news outlets with job offers; but I’m telling everyone that I need some time to settle down before I decide on any new jobs. The deal CNN’s offering sounds pretty sweet, though.”

“Work for Ted Turner? Huh.” He paused in his sorting, and mustered here questioningly.

She laughed, “Well, I would not be working _directly_ for Ted Turner, you know? Besides, there are worse people and causes to be working for. And it’d be a chance to maybe prevent some of the reporting bias and misrepresentations that have gotten you so railed up over the years.”

Lewis scoffed and gestured expansively “Ha! Don’t remind me. I still say that, for example, the whole international hullaboo of the Cavalese Cable Car tragedy three years back could have been avoided if only the media had listened-”

“Lewis, Lewis! I know. I know! I was there at the time, remember? In the Press Room? Doing the briefings? We’ve talked about this...”

“…at length. You’re right. Sorry. I guess I can still get carried away by things like that.”

“And not only that! You can still, after all these years, get _outraged_ by things like that.” She smiled softly. “You know, I think that’s one of the things I like most about you.”

“Huh?”

“After all these years in the White House, and on a Senator’s staff before that, you’ve still kept that idealism and enthusiasm intact. Most people would have become bitter by now, but somehow, you managed to avoid that. You’re still the idealistic guy I mistook for a campaign volunteer on the first day in the New Hampshire campaign office.”

Lewis laughed. “Must have been my boyish charm.”

“Yes, undoubtedly… . Well, either that, or the worn jeans you were wearing at the time.” She paused. “But, _do_ you know what you’ll be doing once you’ve got all that reading and relaxing out of the way?”

This startled another laugh out of Lewis, but he quickly turned pensive “Well, we never did get that crime bill through Congress.” He frowned, and Robin nodded sympathetically. It had been three years, but the defeat of President Shepherd’s new and improved gun control law was a continually sore spot with – well, with pretty much everyone in the administration, really. That the environmental control bill had eventually passed through Congress with only minor changes and now been an operating law for more than two years helped, but Lewis had _wanted_ that gun control law in an almost visceral way.

His voice brought her back to the present.

“You know, I’ve actually been thinking about going to work for one of the Anti-Gun PACs. I don’t know.” He frowned, unhappily, and she regretted having brought it up.

“Well, you’ve got time to figure it out, right? And I hear the new guy-” she gestured in the direction of the Oval Office “-isn’t a card-carrying member of the NRA, either!”

Lewis laughed. “Right, right. Some days, it still seems unreal to me that Jed Bartlet won the election. I mean, I know we’re leaving the White House, and that some of the policies we wanted to put into place and never had time for won’t get done, now, but still …” he shrugged “…they seem so similar in their stands on some of the issues, sometimes, that I don’t feel like we’re leaving our open questions to people that will not care about them, or go contrary to all our ideas. Continuation through change.”

She nodded. “I know what you mean. Bartlet’s a good guy. I mean, he might not be an Andrew Shepherd, but he’s certainly no Bob Rumson, either!”

“But then, no-one but Andrew Shepherd could be Andrew Shepherd,” Lewis shrugged.

Robin nodded again. “Yes. And with the President-” ‘still the President, she thought, for another few short and precious hours’ “heading back to Wisconsin tomorrow and returning to being a history Professor, it’s good to know that the White House will still be in Democratic hands. And I must say, I have a pretty good feeling about our successors. It seems like Bartlet and McGarry have managed to assemble a good team.”

“Indeed.” Lewis smirked at her. “I bet you dinner at _Marcel’s_ that you’re going be annoyed with something C.J. Cregg says in the Press Room before the week is out, though.”

Robin laughed “Well, that’s a pretty safe bet. But who am I to say no to good food and good company? Make it dinner at the _Oceanaire_ and you’re on!”

Lewis put the last of his books into a box and closed it with a will. “Well, I seem to be all packed here. What about you? You done? Or do you want a hand?”

She shook her head. “No, I am all done. Come on, let’s go see how the President is doing, and if we have to keep him from having the movers take along the West Wing desk or some of the other paraphernalia, like he threatened to do. Or maybe we should go keep the porcelain in the China Room safe? Sydney has a fondness for that room that borders on the unhealthy.”

Lewis laughed, crossed the room to where she still stood besides the door, and flung his arm around her shoulder. “Yes, let’s go pester some of my favourite people in the world and enjoy our last hours in the White House.”

She let him propel her out of the room. “We’ve had a good run here, don’t you think?”

“Absolutely we did. I would not have missed it for the world.”

 

 

THE END


End file.
